I have an 04 3.0i Auto, and in sport mode it is almost as good as any manual car I have owned, the sport button transforms the car from gentle cruiser to sports bruiser. 
I'd rather have a manual but...
- Thread starter Kav
- Start date
Gathering opinions is great, but the only true 'decider' is Mrs. K. Get her in a manual 3.0 and see what she thinks. If she hates it, you have no other choice. Pain is a very individual thing, only she can decide if it's tolerable or not, even if we had all said the clutch is light as a feather. I have some knee pain, for me, it's worth dealing with. Perhaps not for Mrs. K.
Good shout bcworkz - pain is indeed subjective so trying a manual would be a useful exercise but but I know she'd rather drive an auto given the choice.
I've driven the steptronic in a different guise and it is a great automatic box but I reckon PaulG is on the money - SMG would appear to best of both worlds
Any reliability problems to date Paul?
Cheers
Kav
I've driven the steptronic in a different guise and it is a great automatic box but I reckon PaulG is on the money - SMG would appear to best of both worlds
Any reliability problems to date Paul?
Cheers
Kav
Compared to my ex 92 Scirocco (brick like clutch), my E46 Compact (medium heavy clutch) and my mums Hyundai Getz (super light clutch), the zed clutch was in the middle, I found it difficult to engage at times and didnt much enjoy trying a short-shift.
I found the auto smooth, quiet and far more enjoyable personally and so searched specifically for it.
I found the auto smooth, quiet and far more enjoyable personally and so searched specifically for it.
Kav said:
None, but I have had the car less than a year. I bought it from here from a member called Spud. Looking through his posts before I bought it, the only issue he had was that a mouse chewed through the wiring harness. I always wonder why BMW never anticipated that and so install rodent proof wiring. :wink:
I had a 2.0 TDI Golf with the DSG box and it was the most hateful gearbox (manual or auto) I have ever used. I invented a few new curses using that thing. It was all over the place, slow to change and if you ever needed reverse in a hurry, then forget it. You could feel every gear change. Shame because I had heard so many good things about them...Mowflow said:
The auto in my 3.0i however is possibly the smoothest auto I've driven. No messing about, no drama - just gets on with it and doesn't need any verbal encouragement...
Seriously! That really surprises me. I've never heard anyone thats tried DSG say anything bad about it. You must have been doing something wrong 
I guess it just shows that everyone is different and testing all possibilities is the best way to go.
PS. After commuting in my Z for the first time this morning i've changed my mind. The clutch is rather heavy.
I guess it just shows that everyone is different and testing all possibilities is the best way to go.
PS. After commuting in my Z for the first time this morning i've changed my mind. The clutch is rather heavy.
By all means test drive a manual, but it sounds like the auto is the answer though. I bought the auto for very similar reasons, sciatica like shooting pains in my left leg at the time made my previous (manual) car undriveable in stop/start traffic - which unfortunately in Cambridge is the only sort of traffic. I love the auto box now, in towns I can be lazy and let it do it's thing and on a clear road knock the lever into manual and play to my hearts content with the paddle shifts. When driving manuals now it feels like such antiquated technology 
The only thing I find annoying with the manual mode in the auto is where it down or up shifts to protect itself from stalling or over-revving. Until I got used to it there was a couple of times I'd brake down to a speed for a junction and then accelerate away, only to find the box had decided dropping a cog was appropriate (sometimes at the same time as I told it to do so, so it would drop two gears). The sudden neck-snapping acceleration wakes you up when you're a gear lower than expected.
The only thing I find annoying with the manual mode in the auto is where it down or up shifts to protect itself from stalling or over-revving. Until I got used to it there was a couple of times I'd brake down to a speed for a junction and then accelerate away, only to find the box had decided dropping a cog was appropriate (sometimes at the same time as I told it to do so, so it would drop two gears). The sudden neck-snapping acceleration wakes you up when you're a gear lower than expected.
Its strange this topic has come up as this is my first full commuting week in the coupe (3.0 manual) and I've been thinking how it's a bit of an effort with the gears - certainly 1st and 2nd anyway. Taking me while to get used to it but now getting a nice smooth ride out of it.
I never test drove the automatic but (particularly as car keen 24 year old) was kinda always set on the manual.
I never test drove the automatic but (particularly as car keen 24 year old) was kinda always set on the manual.
Do the Z4 auto boxes have the adaptive gearchange system? I've got it in my 5 series. It drives me potty - I get it the way I want it, then my better half borrows the car and hands it back with the gearbox set to 'painful piles' ultra-gentle mode. Not good when you find out as you are about to overtake...
